I bid on building a brick mailbox the other day and won the bid. Now for the bad news – I haven’t a clue (well maybe one or two) on how to accompolish this feat. I have searched the messages at FH & found nothing. Does anyone have any good web sites that they can point me to to get me going?
Thanks,
dlb
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Replies
Is that like a brick s**t house? ;)
Sorry, no help here.
What I can't understand is how you can bid on something you don't know how to do. How did you figure the proposal? Sorry, I'm no mason, so I can't help with your problem. I'm just a little stunned someone would bid on a project without knowing what or how it was gonna be accomplished.
But best of luck.
To help others, what shape is the mailbox suppose to be? Does it have to be solid brick, or would veneer do the job? What to you intend to mortar the brick to (what's the substructure consist of?)
Lots of questions that should have been thought of in advance.
Maybe dlb was taking Ed Hilton's tagline seriously.
Jon Blakemore
Hey! I resemble that remark!
Around here brick mailboxes are popular for houses thsat are old enough to have individual boxes. The houses built in the last 10 yrs or so have grouped boxes. Anyway, most of them have a standard metal mailbox, the large size, built into a brick, or stucco, monument. I have seen one or two knocked over by cars, and it appears that the mason just stacks the brick in the appropriate shape (with mortar, of course) and puts a rounded top on it.
Whenever you are asked if you can do a job, tell'em "Certainly, I can!" Then get busy and find out how to do it. T. Roosevelt
I don't suppose building codes cover such mailboxes? If they did, the guy would know more what is required. I imagine it needs a footing or something to keep it from tipping over.
suppose building codes cover such mailboxes?
No, it's usually the arch review committee or HOA if one exists. The only important veto is the one USPS holds. Worth checking the local P.O. to ask if they have clearance height & from-curb distance requirements. Not getting the mail for being 3" too far back is a pain.
A square mailbox frames into brick much nicer than a round top.
it needs a footing or something to keep it from tipping over
Aw, c'mon, I've seen way too many just laid on the 4" (nominal) sidewalk <g>
The coolest install I have seen so far was in the drive on a ranch road, they included 3" pipe bollards to protect the mailbox. The cool part is someone had welded leaves & vines on the bollards--a very cool effect.Occupational hazard of my occupation not being around (sorry Bubba)
Thought the same, was wondering if anybody else was going to post it!
I always try to learn new skills when ever possible. "Certainly I can", is usually my response & I do try to figure out how to do the job. How did I figure the cost of the bid? The first guy submitted a bid and I undercut him by $50.00. So now I get to learn how to build a brick mailbox. Sometime in the future I will be asked to build another and I will have the experience.
dlb
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The undisciplined life is not worth examining.
There's a 1st time for EVERYONE! If where you are is like it is here, you can just about name your own price and get the job.
kcoyner
"So now I get to learn how to build a brick mailbox"
No - now you get to learn how to do estimating and bidding.
Doing it that way is letting the competition set your prices for you. Somebody who knows how and is experienced can always do it for less than an inexperienced person like yourself but still make more money at it. So, supposing that that was the case and he can build it in a day, but it takes you two and a half days - see where this is going? You get to work for free! Good way to go bankrupt.
The way you want to bid a thing is to figure out from a plan how many materials you will use, then get that list priced out. Now, at least you know how much the materials will cost. I have done small jobs with materials I had left over from another job before, so I might have given a price of five bills that way when it would be six and a half if I had to buy the materials again instead of wanting to get rid of them.
These are all just examples to try and keep you from hurting yourself, and yeah, you can probably be OK at that price, but if you make a life loing habit of letting other people determine your price like that, you will not enjoy a career in the trades. You need to be incharge of your own career and future.
Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!
Point well taken. I figured that I could build it in 1.5 days + materials. But your point is spot on & I will take it to heart. Thanks for the feedback!
dlb
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The undisciplined life is not worth examining.
Doubt that you need quite the level of explanation given in these DIY instructions, but they give you some ideas.
The last on the list below gives the height requirements for a specific location. It is similar to what is required where I live, but you should probably check with the local postmaster to get the height of the mailbox and the setback from the curb. You might also want to check with the client to see if they want an oversized or locking mailbox. I just bought a sturdy locking mailbox and they are not particularly cheap - I paid about $225 and it was about the cheapest one I could find in stainless for the size I wanted. Mailbox theft is not unknown in many parts of the country.
http://www.diynet.com/diy/dp_brick/article/0,2037,DIY_13788_2269537,00.html
http://www.b4ubuild.com/photos/mailbox/index.shtml
http://www.hgtv.com/hgtv/rm_home_ext_other/article/0,,HGTV_3736_1394417,00.html
http://www.ci.janesville.wi.us/PublicWorks/Engineering/AboutMailboxes.htm
Thanks for the information. The DIYnet site is exactly what I was looking for.
dlb
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The undisciplined life is not worth examining.
I'm glad you included those links, the DVault looks good.Occupational hazard of my occupation not being around (sorry Bubba)
Make sure your soak the bricks in water before laying them. Most of the bricks break loose because they are dry which sucks the water out of the motar.
Thanks for the tip - that is something I would not have thought about & it does make a lot of sense.
dlb
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The undisciplined life is not worth examining.
There is a nice website that shows step by step how to build a brick mailbox at brickmailbox.net. They explain everything that you need to build a brick mailbox.
Jovan
i don't know, might be my browser but the site is pictures and links. No explaination.
You have to go to the build area
Take a look at the article on the following link. It has detailed information with pictures:
http://brickmailbox.net/Build/building-a-brick-mailbox-like-a-professional.html
First thing to do is to get the straight poop from the Post Office as to how the thing must be positioned relative to the road, how high the box must be, and how far it must stick out from the body of the brickwork.
And the local community may have regulations as well, with regard to snow plowing, etc.